Diary of Victor Buencamino

April 14, 1942

Posted on April 14, 1942 at 10:00 AM.

Received a phone call from Joe Escaler, Jr. He came from San Fernando, Pampanga. He said he saw my son Philip with several thousand captives. My Japanese supervisor, Mr. Fukada, was beside me when I received the news. He congratulated me and I thanked him. I asked him if he could secure a permit for me so that I can look for my son. He said he would take the matter up with the High Command.

Received a letter from an old friend, Augusto Gonzalez. It was a letter of condolence. He heard Philip died…

Tuned in on KGEI. The commentator paid tribute to the defenders of Bataan and extended sympathies to the parents of those who perished in the fight.

My barber was very lonely. His two sons were reported killed by machinegun fire in Aglaloma, Bataan. After my haircut, a Japanese wanted a shave. My barber refused. He told me: “I better not shave him. I might slit his throat.”

One Response to “April 14, 1942”

[…] and on the other, frantic for news about his son, particularly after the Fall of Bataan, when on the same day he received condolence messages and news his son was alive. Then, he recounted the grief of parents and his own search of the concentration […]